Rarely do you find a new restaurant where you immediately start thinking of when your next trip there will be or who you will take with you. That was the case for Sammy’s Speed Dog. I have noticed Speed Dog a few times and never really given it much thought until recently a co-worker went on and on about how great the chicken wings and hot dogs were. It didn’t take too much arm twisting to get us to go but we were still a bit leery for a couple of reasons. One: I have never taken food advice from this individual before. Two: Speed Dog is in the rapiest end of Shakopee. It’s really not that bad of an area but that definitely is the best adjective that I can think of when describing that end of town. Just in case I brought an air horn, pepper spray, and nunchucks to fend off wannabe attackers.

Upon walking into Speed Dog, I was particularly surprised at the amount of effort and money they have put into this old Taco Johns building. It was completely transformed into a legit race themed hotdog joint, complete with ceiling fans that look like speedometers and multiple flat screen TV’s. So much for being on the dreary end of town, this place is nice.

I went with the Speedway Coney. It was a classic Coney, made with a Vienna beef dog, topped with seasoned ground beef, raw onions, and mustard served on a toasted flat bun. The bun was utterly perfect. It held all of the ingredients nicely and was soft without being soggy. The Vienna beef had a great flavor and when combined with the ground beef and onions, made for a damn near perfect Coney. Along with the Coney, I ordered the chili cheese fries. I ate most of these fries by hand which is a bit of a bad sign. You really know cheese fries are good when you don’t even bother trying to eat any with your hands, fork only. The chili had some kick and everything was served piping hot. All in all I was tremendously happy with my lunch.

One of the main reasons to go was to try these outstanding wings I had heard so much about. And I am thrilled to say these wings didn’t let me down one bit. Speed Dog fries their wings whole, and finishes them off with a zesty, salty, yet sweet seasoning. I’m not sure what the seasoning consists of, but Brad and I immediately caught a huge whiff of cinnamon. Whatever it was sure was delicious and went well with the surprisingly sweet buffalo sauce they served on the side. Now that I think of it, the seasoning on the wings was making the buffalo sauce sweet. My mouth is watering just thinking about them now. If you are a wing lover, you have to give these a try.

Sammy’s Speed Dog has potential to be a huge success. The location isn’t the greatest and service was a bit weak. Well, a bit worse than just weak. I waited 26 minutes (confirmed on receipt) to receive my hot dog and fries. If I were on my lunch break from work I would have been super pissed about how long that took. They were understaffed and very busy so I can understand why it took so long but still 26 minutes is a long time. Overall, Speed Dog provides outstanding quality food at a very reasonable price. If you have any doubts about how good a hot dog joint can be, I suggest you give Speed Dog a try and give them a chance to win you over too.

Brad:

Years ago when I first met my fellow Food Bro at 3am he suggested we go down to this taco place, tacos at 3am of course I was down. The place was Taco Loco and its old location is at the ass-end of downtown Shakopee, now if you have ever been down there you know there is a train yard and not much else. So here we are at 3am outside of a tiny shack eating tacos, hearing weird sounds coming from the train yard and I’m waiting for some crazed maniac to run out of the woods to skin us alive and make a flesh suit. No that didn’t happen but I was creeped out by the location, and any business that can survive down there is worth a look. So when Brandon suggested we check out Sammy’s Speed Dog (located right next to the old Taco Loco) there wasn’t much hesitation at all.

Hot dogs in Minnesota aren’t quite the religious experience as they seem to be in other areas of the country, most of my encounters have been my own backyard grill or at a baseball game not a restaurant dedicated to doing them well. Due to this I have never tried a real Chicago Dog. What makes a Chicago Dog? A traditional steamed, Vienna Beef dog topped with mustard, neon relish, diced onions, sliced tomatoes, sport peppers, a pickle spear, and celery salt served on a steamed poppy seed bun. At first glance that’s a lot of stuff on a hot dog for a guy who is used to ketchup and mustard, but I went for it and it was so goooooooood, yes so good I added o’s. All the ingredients may appear to distract from each other but they worked in harmony to make an amazing hot dog experience. If you think hot dogs can only be those thin flavorless charred things you remember from childhood, get here and try a Vienna Beef dog they will change your whole view as they did mine. The chili-cheese fries are just as good, made with bean-less meaty chili and cheese sauce. Do yourself a favor and order these as well, damn good!

The promise of amazing wings is what brought us to Sammy’s and they did not disappoint as well. Their wings come whole (flats and drummies un-cut), deep fried and covered with an amazing seasoning that is highly addicting. They were meaty, perfectly crisp and still juicy. You don’t often see wings, especially whole wings, fried this well. I don’t know all what was in the seasoning but it’s awesome and I wish they sold bottles of it. Normally I would bash them for not coating their wings in sauce but they are that good all on their own you don’t need anything else. We did get a side of buffalo sauce alongside and dunking the wings in brought them to a whole other level. These are on par with the best wings I have ever tried and if you call yourself a wing lover you need to try these, right now!

I was surprised with how many people where at Sammy’s Speed Dog for lunch and they only had 3 people total working so our food did take a bit, but everything was hot and fresh when delivered. You have to be doing something really good to survive at their location and that’s exactly what they are doing. Thank you Sammy’s Speed Dog and we will be back.

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